Car is running now, waiting for the cable to come in to read any codes...

Headlights do not come on... fuses good, lamps good, brights come on when I pull back on the stalk. When I turn the stalk to either parking lamp, or full driving lamp position no head lights, side lights, etc..

Should I be looking at the headlight control modules, or is there a relay for the stalk controls??

I'm thinking there is a direction or path of comprehension to the Bentley manuals... and I'm just not on the path as of yet.

 

<ul><li><a href="http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/electrical_equipment/ignswitchreplace.html">http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/electrical_equipment/ignswitchreplace.html</a</li></ul>

 

I sure hope its not that. But I guess I'll pull it in the morning.

Reading my post, I was perhaps in correct.

I have parking lights, and turn signals work. Just not head lights. Unless I pull back on the stalk and hold it back.

I'll put it down to frustration. I did however finally figure out where the E-Box is in the right front foot well. I'd been in there before &amp; for some reason thought it was on the right side...

 

To see if the headlights come on (energizing the load reduction relay). You don't have to take anything off to do this.

 

I have a bad ignition switch on (once again) the A6 and suffer that very symptom with the headlights. All that has to be done to temporarily fix it is to turn the key manually to the run position.

 

That doesn't seem to be it... I could be doing something incorrect.. but I printed it, took it out to the car and tried it several times...

The only thing I can find seemingly wrong is the front lamp control module #1&amp;6 (J123) in the bentley manual. It looks to be a compound relay set...

When I sit in the car with the lights on and pull the stalk back to (flash to pass) I hear the relay kick over when the lights come on. If the lights are off and I pull on the stalk, they come on but no relay kicking noise...

I believe someone else had this problem (this forum or another) and am searching for the thread, without success.

 

The last time I looked at it was when I did my Nav Plus integration (facelift dash) into my 97 A8. I remember the lamp control module, it's a black box as you say.

I don't know where it is located....have you tried figuring out if it is getting the signal from the light switch?

The other problem could be your stalk switch.

 

Oh I've found it... it's in the relay panel on the firewall in the right side footwell. I just can't figure out if I'm testing it right...

Meh, I'll take it out and run by the stealer w/it tomorrow. I think it's bad, but I don't really have a manual way to power the coil in the relay.

I've got the manual &amp; found the relevant snippits of schematic.. I just can't figure out why the relays close while the lights are on and the stalk is pulled back, but not while the lights are off and the stalk is pulled back.

Went to 3 parts stores with the relay and none of them had it. The Bentley manual calls it Front Lamp Control Modual... but none of the parts stores show the part, even by part# look up. Must be a stealer only part.

Thx Paul, I'm kinda frustrated and y'all have really been quite helpful.

 

It spans relay position 1 and 6. I'm going to say that it's either the actual switch on the stalk or the control module, or a connection between the two.

If you really wanted to test it for the low beams....you could take the power going to them (2.5mm wire which is heavy duty, yellow/black) and jump 12 volts to it which is position 13 of the relay socket. That would prove downstream of the relay that everything works. That is for the left low beam.

But I bet your problem is upstream or with a ground or something.

I do not know what year you have except that it's a facelift because it has the control module (pre facelifts do not) or why the lights are not working.

You said you got the car running, why was it not running?

 

It has, still, the blocked drain problem... learned about it when I got caught in bad rain. Car drove home fine, then was dead the next day. I'm pretty much more stubborn than smart &amp; in as much as it had broken down on me a few month earlier &amp; stranded me with a bad alternator (just up and quit, dash light came on &amp; 10 minutes later the car stalled), I was less than pleased with the car.

It's summer &amp; I prefer to ride my bike in the summer, so I've kind of let it sit.

Sounds silly, but... the other Idea was to melt the damn thing and make an avant garde sculpture out of it

So all summer I didn't really care why... Now I know that the water got into the foot wells and into the relay panels down there on the firewall. At one point it was literally pouring out from the center console when I went around corners... but it got home from Virginia (I'm in Detroit). Somewhere something was shorted and the battery got drawn down. I suspect it is the leftover wiring harness from the previous owners cell phone kit, as it was just laying on the floor under the mat in the crevice between the air duct and the floor pan.

I'm reluctant just yet to start jumping circuits, want to make sure I understand them before I start running ammuck.

The module is a compound module that bridges two locations in the relay panel... almost like it was originally designed for two seperate relays &amp; was updated to one package for both.

The Car is an 1998 A8Q with the HID beams (learnt that today ) has the solar moon roof, etc... It was originally the personal car of an Audi America exec. Can't recall his name right now... and I'm the third owner. Has just about 135k on it.

I really like the car... Kind of like dating a readhead that drinks at this point.